Discussion

Brassaii since the re-vamp?

Has anyone been to dinner lately at Brassaii? Am thinking about it for a lateish dinner on Saturday but wondering about (a) the food/service; and (b) whether later in the evening it becomes too much of a club to actually enjoy it as a restaurant.

I have been for brunch a few weeks ago and it was great - but it is tough to measure a kitchen by brunch alone.

Haven't been for dinner, but also went for brunch about 2 weeks ago and wasn't impressed. While the food was good, portion sizes were very small for the money and service was arrogant. I also liked the previous styling of the restaurant more than the makeover.

Thanks TorontoJo,realized after I posted that ordering will be out of my hands, since the dinner will be a prix fixe set menu for a group! Wondering now if I'll get to choose my protein, but I'm guessing it's already been chosen for the group.

I went with the goat cheese, salmon, and pumpkin creme brulee. Big piece of atlantic salmon. The food was decent for a group dinner on King West.

Agree with downtown foodie, that starches could have been more substantial, but I think they're keeping a high protein/low carb ratio for the KIng W clientele.

Our servers were weak and amateurish. Maybe these are the servers that get assigned to the private dining room, so they'll automatically get a tip through the presence of a large group. The male server "Ma'amed" me as he cleared my dish (called me Ma'am).

I hope anyone in the service industry reading this realizes that Ma'aming female Chowhounds (calling a woman you do not know "Ma'am", whether she is married or not) is not the pathway to a good tip, especially when the female Chowhound is the one who is tipping you. It is not the same as calling a random male customer "Mister or Sir". If you're a good looking Italian server, you might be able to improve your tips by calling your female Chowhound customers Bella, but if you're an Average Joe Torontonian server who isn't making any effort to charm your customers, it's probably a better idea not to label your customers with a loaded word like Ma'am (or Madame, or Miss, or Mlle). When it doubt, leave it out.

I decided not to point out his faux pas this time, and the lucky server received a generous automatic tip due to the size of our group. The next server who "Ma'ams" me will not be so lucky.

In case you're in France anytime soon: "Madame" in French no longer has a "loaded" connotation; it simply (and respectfully) denotes a woman (regardless of marital status), as opposed to a teenager/child. In fact, you'll frequently hear complaints from young/young-looking women who can't get proper service because so-and-so thought they were a "mademoiselle."

So, in your case, calling you "madame" would be both appropriate and respectful (had this not been in Canada, and had he not called you ma'am).